This invention relates to techniques in the region of behavioral science in the medical physiological field, and more particularly to a method of and a system for measuring the memory and learning capabilities of small animals by utilizing the natural ingestion and/or drinking appetite of such animals.
To measure the memory and learning functions of small animals, for example, a Morris's water maze, a cowering reaction of small animals against an electric shock, an elevated maze, a radial arm maze and the like are utilized. According to the techniques utilizing these techniques, it is necessary that an experimenter transfers animals from a breeding cage to a specially provided experimental environment and conducts experiments in a light period (at an inactive phase of animals) in which the experimenter can observe the animals with the naked eye. To conduct experiments, the experimenter usually touches the animals so as to fasten them but touching the animals causes stresses on them in some cases due to the physical stimulus attended with the touching action. This results in occurrence of a scatter in the results of the experiments.